On December 13th in Abu Dhabi, UAE, the last major tournament of the professional Counter-Strike 2 scene for 2023 will begin. As before, teams could qualify for the championship by winning one of the BLAST competitions during the year or through the organizers' ranking. Ultimately, eight teams will participate in the BLAST Premier: World Final 2023, where a prize pool of one million dollars will be contested.
The final tournament of the year promises to be more than interesting and unpredictable, as all participants will arrive in the UAE with practically new lineups. Bo3.gg, in collaboration with CS2 experts, will discuss the favorites, the Pick'Em challenge, the dark horse, and the most anticipated matches.
Tournament Favorites
Team Vitality
The first thing to note is the replacement of Emil Magisk Reif with William mezii Merriman. This shuffle seems to have gone almost unnoticed for the team, as they immediately won the BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023 afterward. This result could contribute to the beginning of Vitality domination on the scene. Moreover, Mathieu ZywOo Herbaut is determined to prove to everyone that he is the best player in Counter-Strike and has already reached his peak form. Overall, the team is in good game shape and intends to continue its championship run at the main tournament of the series.
FaZe Clan
FaZe Clan has integrated better than others into competitive CS2. The team has already won three trophies – IEM Sydney 2023, Thunderpick World Championship 2023, and Asia Championships 2023. The team also finished second at BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023, losing to Vitality in the final.
The community was surprised when it was announced that Russel Twistzz Van Dulken was leaving the club. Replacing such a player will be quite difficult, but nothing is impossible. This will be proven by FaZe Clan's newcomer David frozen Čerňanský. There should be no problem with his integration into the team. He has already played with Finn karrigan Andersen and Robin ropz Kool in MOUZ. Just learn the tactics, positions, and the team is ready to win tournaments?
Pick'Em from Bo3.gg
A pleasant bonus for visitors to Bo3.gg during BLAST Premier: World Final 2023 will be the Pick'Em challenge. By participating in the challenge, you can win one of the prizes: Huntsman Knife | Tiger Tooth, M4A1-S | Hyper Beast, or AK-47 | The Empress. Make your predictions in time!
Justify Decisions
G2 Esports
Last year, G2 caused a real stir by winning the World Final. That trophy gave many fans hope for a promising 2023. Despite the team's victories at IEM Katowice 2023 and IEM Cologne 2023, it had a feverish year, exemplified by its 12-14th place finish at BLAST.tv Paris Major 2023. The organization subsequently decided to make a roster change.
After IEM Sydney 2023, Justin jks Savage was benched, and Nemanja nexa Isaković was signed as his replacement. Inexplicably, but a fact. Two captains in one lineup – that's something new. The team in its updated roster has already failed at CCT Online Finals #5. The upcoming BLAST World Final is almost the only chance to prove to the community that they made the right decision.
ENCE
Another shock for the community was the departure of Marco Snappi Pfeiffer from ENCE. Rumor has it he will continue his career at Team Falcons and play for big money. But how to solve the problem of ENCE? There is simply a shortage of good captains on the pro scene. Management's choice fell on the downed pilot in the person of Lukas gla1ve Rossander, who had been inactive for the last six months. The Danish IGL is rightly considered the best in the history of CS:GO, but is that still the case now? Joining ENCE is literally the last chance for gla1ve to prove that he can still perform at a tier-1 level.
Dark Horse
Natus Vincere
NAVI is precisely the dark horse of the BLAST Premier: World Final 2023. Why? It's simple. Judging by the latest results, the team can either shoot up or fail. Fans' hopes will always be directed towards victory, but the world of competitive CS is very cruel.
BLAST Premier: Fall Final 2023 showed that Igor w0nderful Zhdanov, who replaced Aleksandr s1mple Kostyliev, is already mature for the tier-1 level and ready to delight viewers with his performance. The new NAVI sniper became the best player of the tournament in his team. It is also worth noting that Valeriy b1t Vakhovskyi has reached high individual form. So, are we expecting NAVI in the final?
Most Anticipated Matches
Vitality — NAVI
The most anticipated opening match of the tournament is precisely the pair Vitality — NAVI. For the former, it will be a test of strength, and for the latter, a chance to prove that this lineup should be taken seriously. The match is scheduled for December 13th, 11:00 EEST. You can familiarize yourself with the prediction for the outcome of the match in the article.
Vitality — FaZe Clan
The confrontation between Vitality and FaZe Clan is the most anticipated at the championship. The teams were seeded in different groups, meaning they can only meet in the playoffs. The ideal place for this matchup would, of course, be the final of the competition. But will it happen at all? We'll find out very soon!
Predictions from Experts
Bo3.gg reached out to Counter-Strike experts and asked them to make a prediction for the winner of BLAST Premier: World Final 2023.
Former professional player and commentator Alexey yXo Maletskiy: “Of course FaZe Clan.”
Analyst Oleksandr Petr1k Petryk: “The favorites of the tournament are FaZe Clan and Vitality. They have shown themselves cool and stable lately.”
Commentator Fedir KvaN Zakharov: “I think the biggest chance to see in the final is the pair Vitality — FaZe. These teams made the fewest changes and retained the highest potential for victory.”
Commentator and analyst Oleksandr Shoker Osheka : “The main favorite of the tournament, in my opinion, is Vitality. Many teams now have a new roster, and because of this, their game is not stable. For example, FaZe could have competed for the title, but considering that they lost Twistzz, and frozen probably managed to adapt to the team's structure, they are unlikely to be able to beat the more played-in Vitality. Even though frozen played with karrigan and ropz before.”
The tournament is expected to be interesting. Some teams will strive to consolidate their leadership on the scene, others will prove the correctness of their decisions, and others will simply aim to finish the year well. You can follow the news, schedule, and results of BLAST Premier: World Final 2023 via the link.
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